


Visitor

by minigenos



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Think of the real Kris as a captive audience within his own body, bittersweet like dark chocolate, fluffy and sweet like cotton candy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-20 15:24:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16558313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minigenos/pseuds/minigenos
Summary: Ralsei manages to find a way into the human world and spends the day with Kris.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Italicized Kris is the real deal Kris. Unitalicized Kris is the player-controlled Kris.

“Kris! Wake up and get downstairs dear! You've got company!”

Toriel's voice cut through the house and into Kris' room, but it wasn't enough to wake the teen. It was the weekend and he wanted to _sleep_.

“Kris? Are you up yet?”

He let out a small groan of annoyance and curled up under his blankets. Let her wake up the entire town for all he cared. Kris would wake up when he was good and ready.

Which, to his own surprise, was right now.

His body jolted a couple times before launching itself out of bed. Kris quickly stood up, dumbfounded as to why he would do such a thing, and moved to the center of his room. And promptly did... absolutely nothing.

_Wait a second..._ he thought to himself. _This feels..._ The teen tried to move his arms, but nothing happened. The same was so with his legs.

His body felt different. But familiar.

_All too familiar._

It was just like before. _Kris_ , the real Kris, had become a spectator within his own body. Whatever took control of him on that fateful day had regained control. But how? It shouldn't have been possible, not by a long shot. He had removed his soul and...

With what little control he still had, _Kris_ turned his head just enough to check on the birdcage where his soul _should_ be.

But it wasn't there.

_SHIT_ , the teen swore to himself. He had no idea who could have done such a thing or how, considering the rattling of the cage would have easily woken him up, but things were what they were right now, and he was merely along for the ride.

Until he was the one back in control.

With the real _Kris_ having no further say over what his own body did, Kris stood still where he was for over ten minutes without moving a muscle.

_If you're going to take over my body at least_ _ **do**_ _something with it_ , he snarkily commented, hoping whatever was in control could hear him. It didn't seem to have any effect.

Great.

Just great.

He couldn't even badmouth his captor.

After another couple of minutes Kris finally turned and moved to a silver four-pointed star that sat between the cage and his bed. A light brush against it activated the save point, bringing up his personal information screen. Kris, LV 1, 00:00:00. There was no save file, and oddly enough no capacity to save. He would have liked to have known who was in control this time, but it seemed like it would stay a mystery for right now.

With saving being an impossible task, Kris closed the screen and proceeded out of his room. He made a quick trip over to Toriel's room and attempted to open the door, but to no avail. Nothing else seemed to interest the teen, so he finally made his way downstairs.

Toriel's voice carried through the living room and kitchen to where the teen stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“Were you the friend Kris had told me about? He didn't say too much, so I wasn't sure.”

Kris couldn't hear what the other person was saying. He moved closer to get a better eavesdropping vantage point.

“Oh, did you just move here then? I hadn't heard of anybody new in town; this place is pretty small after all... Ah, you're just visiting? How wonderful!”

Whomever the other person was had such a mild voice Kris still had trouble hearing them despite being nearly flush against the wall that separated the two rooms. Welp, that only left one option – he would just have to head into the living room and see who this mysterious visitor was.

Without wasting a second Kris finally made his appearance, and froze once he saw the all-too-familiar figure sitting in the chair across from his mom.

“Oh, there you are,” Toriel said. “I called for you over ten minutes ago. What were you doing up there?”

_Kris_ rolled his eyes at his mom's comment. For a brief second the teen was glad he didn't have any control over his body right now.

“Anyways, I was having quite a nice conversation with Ralsei here. I didn't know you had made more friends.” She seemed extremely proud of that fact to the point where she almost forgot to ask how they had met. Almost.

“By the way, how did you two meet?” Toriel asked with a warm smile on her face.

There was no weaseling out of the question. Kris would have to think of something, and fast.

“Asriel's sports meet,” the teen said without batting an eye. Ralsei nodded when Toriel looked over to him, making the lie all the more believable.

“Oh, that's wonderful!” she said with a small clap of her hands. “Well, I don't want to keep you two here, especially on such a nice day, so how about this,” Toriel grabbed her purse and fished around in it until she pulled out her wallet. The monster held out a $20 bill towards Kris. “Why don't you two go into town and have lunch? My treat.”

Kris nodded and shoved the money into his pocket, bringing his riches all the way up to $22.

“I don't want to keep you two any longer than I already have,” Toriel said as she sat back down in her chair. “Just come back before curfew. I'll see you later dear.” She waved the pair goodbye as Kris guided Ralsei out and closed the door behind them.

Now that his mom was out of the way, the teen turned towards the Darkner.

“Hi again!” Ralsei said before Kris could get a word out. “Can you believe it? I'm- I'm just so excited! I can't believe I'm standing here, in the Lightner's world, right now! I know it wasn't that long ago, but...” Kris could see underneath the shadows that obscured the monster's face that he was smiling sheepishly, like a puppy awaiting praise. “...did you miss me?”

Almost immediately Kris wrapped his arms around the prince, embracing him in a hug. The response was far more than what Ralsei had expected, causing him to blush deeply.

“Really? You missed me that much?”he asked while trying his best to hold back tears. “You really are a great friend, you know that?”

With their reintroduction over, Kris finally had an opening to ask how the Darkner had managed to find a way into his world.

“It wasn't too difficult,” Ralsei replied. “Some monsters traced your steps back all the way to where you first arrived in our world, and found trace amounts of energy from the portal that brought you to us. It wasn't too difficult to reverse-engineer the portal. I was able to do most of it myself...” he trailed off, a mix of pride and embarrassment on his face.

Kris couldn't help but be impressed at the monster's feat, and said as much, which caused a huge smile to spread across the monster's face.

“Really? You think so? I'm so glad!” He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “Um, but the portal won't last too long. If you want to go somewhere we'll have to go now. I can't get stuck on this side when it closes you see. Just lead the way and I'll follow.”

Without giving too much mind as to the limitations and stipulations of Ralsei's portal, Kris led the monster south towards the diner.

“Oh heeeyyy!” Catty waved at the two as she walked up. “I, like, totally didn't know you knew anyone outside of town Kris! Your friend is totally cute!”

“Thank you very much,” Ralsei replied.

“For a second I was totally confused when they said they were looking for your house! I thought they had confused you with Asriel or something. Guess that was my bad, haha!”

_She really doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut_ , _Kris_ commented into the void as he watched on, powerless to say or do anything of substance.

“Anyhow, don't be such strangers!” the cat monster said as Kris and Ralsei continued onward.

Once they were far enough away the Darkner moved until he was next to the teen and walking in sync with him. “You have quite some characters here,” the monster commented with a small smile. His face seemed to be a combination of happiness, sadness, and even a tinge of nostalgia. Unable to give any sort of response, Kris continued leading the way until the pair had finally reached the diner.

To their luck, the breakfast rush had long since died down and only one other patron was seated inside. The pair quickly claimed a booth that sat against the western side of the establishment.

“Hey kid. Who's your friend here?” their waitress asked as she pulled a pen out of her apron.

“I'm just visiting,” Ralsei replied with a disarming smile.

“Heh, alright then. Do you know what you want, or do ya need more time to think it over?”

Kris didn't need much time. “One hot chocolate please, with everything on it,” he said, returning the unopened menu to the edge of the table. The waitress nodded and scribbled it down on the note pad.

“One deluxe hot cocoa,” she said before turning her attention towards Ralsei. “And you?”

“Oh that sounds good! I'll take the same!” the Darkner said in a chipper tune as he followed suit with his menu.

“Aiight, it'll be just a couple minutes then, huns,” the monster replied as she picked up the menus and walked back behind the counter.

Now that the pair had a few minutes to kill before their drinks were ready, Kris could take the opportunity to ask Ralsei some questions. The teen looked over to his friend, who had his nose and hands pressed up against the window like a five year old.

“Wow. It's so bright here.” He commented with a bit of childish wonder. “I wish I could take a little bit of this back home with me, haha.”

“Hey Ralsei,” Kris said, quickly snapping the Darkner out of his own thoughts.

“Oh? What is it?” the monster replied as he tore his eyes from the sights outside.

“How are... you?” he asked with a small pause.

“Me? I'm fine,” Ralsei answered. “Actually, I've been thinking of ways to bring monsters back into town since, well, you know. Lancer suggested we have a party to make the town look like a more desirable place to live. He even offered to help bake a cake for it.” He let out a small chuckle before continuing. “He, ah, tried to make a cake out of worms. Maybe needless to say, it didn't turn out very well.”

That last bit was pretty good, Kris had to admit.

“So the party is officially on hold until the kitchen is habitable again,” the Darkner finished with a sheepish smile.

“Here you go huns,” the waitress said as she placed Kris and Ralsei's order down in front of them. Two ceramic mugs filled to the brim with hot chocolate, with a heaping portion of whipped topping, chocolate sauce, and even small chocolate shavings on top. “Careful you two; don't burn yourselves,” she added while placing a pair of straws down on the table for them to use.

“Thank you! It smells delicious!” Ralsei beamed as he carefully dragged his mug closer.

“Thanks,” Kris added while grabbing one of the straws.

Ralsei watched Kris remove the straw from its packaging and place it inside his mug, then quickly followed suit with his own straw.

“You should really wait-” Kris' warning was quickly cut off by a small yelp of shock and pain as Ralsei learned the hard way why he should have waited a few minutes before taking the first sip.

“Oh that's hot!” the Darkner said as he held a hand to his mouth.

“I tried to warn you...” the teen said as he swirled the topping of his own drink in circles. Not surprisingly, Ralsei began to parrot his actions and slowly stirred the mug's contents as he switched between glancing outside and back to Kris.

Once their drinks had cooled down enough to actually be drinkable, Kris gulped down a sizable portion of his share as he waited for Ralsei to finish chugging what was left in his own mug. Despite his slightly scalded mouth, the Darkner had managed to down everything in one go.

“HAAH! That was delicious!” the monster exclaimed as he placed the mug back down with the softest _thump_ possible. “I wish we had this where I live! I bet everybody would love it!”

With Ralsei somewhat sated by his drink, the teen took the opportunity to ask him one more question.

“So, why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You went through all that effort to get here and act like it's no big feat _just_ to see me?”

“Well, yeah. You were kind of the first friend I ever had. I just... couldn't say goodbye like that.” Ralsei's face flushed slightly.

_Well, at least it's impossible for him to lie to me with a straight face considering he blushes every single time he tells me the truth_ , _Kris_ thought to himself.

Satisfied with Ralsei's answer, Kris continued.

“What about Susie? Did you try to see if she was home?”

“Of course!” the prince replied before shaking his head slightly. “...but when I asked where she lived the monsters said she wasn't home. So I figured it was just going to be us for today.

“But that's ok! I'm having lots of fun just being here with you!” he quickly interjected before Kris could get a word in.

“Here's your check, hun,” the waitress said as she placed the slip face-down next to the teen. $5.50 for the two hot chocolates. Kris quickly made change to pay for their drinks and leave a $2.50 tip. He figured it would probably be best to leave a decent tip lest word make its way back to Toriel – this was a small town after all.

With their drinks done and paid for the pair left the diner and almost immediately turned in different directions. Ralsei, curious about the unusual mascots in front of the store next to the diner, began walking to his left when a hand quickly grabbed his shoulder.

_Oh god no! Kris_ cursed. The last thing he wanted to do was have a run-in with Burger Pants while Ralsei was with him. Thankfully the being in control of his body seemed to think in a similar vein and gently dragged the prince all the way across the street. _Well thank god for small favors_ , he added with a snarky roll of his eyes.

On a positive note, the pair had narrowly avoided one _very_ embarrassing conversation. However, they were now directly in front of Sans' shop, and Kris couldn't stop the prince from going inside.

“Have you been in here before? This place looks neat!” Ralsei said as his scarf wrapped around the door handle like a human's hand. The teen had no option but to follow the monster's lead.

The inside the shop was... surprisingly spacious, with neatly-stocked shelves along every row. Kris couldn't help but feel the place was almost _too_ big, considering how small it looked from the outside. A faint chipper and almost goofy-sounding tune was playing over the speakers, just loud enough to be heard without annoying the customers.

_Kris really_ didn't like the tune.

“I'm gonna go look around really quick!” Ralsei said before dashing off to the opposite end of the store. He seemed to be drawn to the candy section and was quickly mesmerized by all the colorful packaging hanging from the rows of bars.

“heya kiddo,” a familiar voice said from behind the cash register. It was Sans, who was leaning back in his chair as he completed the newspaper's crossword puzzle. “wasn't expecting to see ya here so early. who's yer new friend over there?” The skeleton nudged his head towards the Darkner, who still seemed to be absorbed in the sugary oasis.

“That's Ralsei,” Kris replied. “He's a friend.”

“oh hey, that's neat,” Sans said as he finally moved to sit upright. “yaknow i was just about to take my break and come ask ya if you were ready to baby sit my little bro for me, but since it seems you're busy we'll just have to schedule it for another day.”

Even though _Kris_ didn't have any control over his body, he could still tell that the individual in charge took Sans' words like a punch to the gut. Why was this guy's brother so damn important?

“Hey Kris, could you get me this please?” Ralsei asked, breaking up the one-sided conversation between Sans and the teen. He slapped a bag of gummy worms on the counter using his scarf like a hand again.

His pleading puppy dog eyes and smile were literally impossible to say no to.

“Yeah, sure,” Kris agreed with a small dejected sigh. He pulled out a dollar from his pocket and-

“that'll be two bucks kid.”

_WHAT?!_ Two dollars for that small bag of candy? Sans was running a damn racket in here! Kris looked the skeleton dead in the eyes as he pulled out another dollar and handed the money over.

“thank ya kindly,” he said while lazily stowing the bills into the cash register.

As expensive as the candy might have been, the teen couldn't feel bad about it for too long. Ralsei seemed super happy to have them, excited even.

“I didn't know you had worms like these!” the prince beamed as he followed Kris to the door. “Lancer will be so excited to see this! I can't wait to show him! I wonder if I can use these instead of normal worms to make a cake... hmmm...”

While Ralsei was busy with his own thoughts Kris took a moment to look back at Sans, who had reassumed his previous position of leaning back in his chair as he started on the newspaper's Sudoku. The skeleton looked up from his work for a split second to stare at the teen dead in the eyes again before returning to his work.

_God I hate that shit-eating grin_ , _Kris_ muttered into the void as the shop's door closed behind the pair.


	2. Chapter 2

“Alright Kris, where to next?” Ralsei beamed as he placed the bag of candy inside his cloak. “Just lead the way!”

Kris seemed to be at an impasse; there weren't too many options to choose from in this small town. The real _Kris_ could tell the one controlling him wasn't too keen on calling it quits early and seemed to be mulling over all of their available options.

“Do you have flowers in the dark world?” Kris finally asked.

“Well, there are a couple. Do the dark candy trees count?” the Darkner replied.

So it was decided. The pair would loop around and head over to Asgore's flower shop. Kris grabbed ahold of Ralsei's hand and guided him around the block until they were just a few yards from the store.

“Whoa! What are those?!” the prince asked as they drew closer. Kris quickly let go of Ralsei's hand as the monster walked over to the shop's entrance and stopped to admire all of the colorful blooming flowers.

“Oh wow! There are so many of these!” he commented while admiring the colorful late-season blooms. “These are... flowers, right? Your world's flowers? Ah, they're so beautiful!” Ralsei paused in front of a small bunch of tiny blue and yellow flowers. “Oh! Kris, what are these?” the prince asked as he pointed to the plant.

“forget-me-nots,” Kris replied as he looked over the monster's shoulders.

“That's what they're called? Really? What a cute name!” Ralsei clapped his paws together in happiness. “Do you think they sell them inside? Can we go check?” Kris waved his arm in a gesture that told the Darkner to lead the way.

Without hesitation the monster got up and entered the shop. Asgore was busy trimming down some newly-budding branches as the bell rang to announce the pair's arrival.

“Hm? Yes, how may I-” Kris's dad paused as he got up from his work. “Oh, Kris! How are you my boy?” The large monster moved to give his son a big hug, but was quickly thwarted when he noticed the monster standing next to the teen.

“Who's this? A newcomer here? Did you just move in?”

“No, I'm only visiting!” Ralsei replied. “I was wondering if you have any of those little blue flowers for sale? Kris, what were they called again?”

“forget-me-nots,” the teen replied plainly.

“Yeah, those!” the Darkner nodded.

“I'm sorry, but I don't sell those flowers,” Asgore said with a mildly dejected smile. “They don't really go in bouquets...”

Even though his words weren't meant to hurt Ralsei's feelings, _Kris_ could no doubt tell his companion for the day took the information kind of hard.

“Oh, you don't sell them?...” Ralsei muttered as his body slumped slightly.

Not wanting to see his son's friend look so dejected, Asgore quickly thought up a solution.

“W-well, if you'd really like some I could dig up the plant out front for you, but it may not last that long...”

“Oh, really?” Ralsei's mood had completely reversed course after Asgore's suggestion. “I can take care of them no problem! I won't let them die on my watch!”

It seemed that the monster didn't know the flowers were only annuals. Kris decided not to tell him. He'd find out soon anyways.

Asgore grabbed a small shovel and cheerfully walked over to the entrance of his shop. “I'll be just a minute,” he said as he opened the glass door and left the pair waiting inside. While he was gone Ralsei took the liberty of walking around the floor of the shop and looking at the various flowers that were meticulously cared for.

“Hey Kris, why does this flower have little pointy thorns on it,” the prince asked as he pointed towards a blooming rose bush, “but those ones don't?” His finger had moved over to a bunch of freshly cut and de-thorned roses. “That seems kind of a silly thing to do, don't you think?”

Before Kris could get a word of explanation in, Asgore returned holding the forget-me-not plant – roots and all – in one of his giant pawed hands. “Just one more minute,” the monster said as he made his way over to a bag of soil. He grabbed a cheap planter and filled it with a smidgen of soil, then teased the roots of the plant to dislodge some dirt and loosen up the roots while doing his best to get at least some of said dirt into the planter. After placing the dug-up plant into its new container he covered it up with a bit more soil and what dirt had fallen on the table, poured a tiny amount of water into the planter, wrapped it up in an equally cheap plastic bag, then handed it to Ralsei.

“There you go! On the house!” Asgore said with a wide grin.

“Thank you very much!” Ralsei beamed as he held his newest gift close to his body. _Kris_ could tell whomever was controlling him ate up the monster's unbelievably cute smile as if it was candy; the only response he could muster up was a roll of his eyes, not that it really mattered anyways.

After a quick explanation from Asgore on how to transplant the forget-me-nots, the pair left the flower shop and turned to each other.

“Are you worried about if the flowers will survive?” Ralsei asked. Kris shook his head yes in response. “Don't be! With lots of care and a little magic I bet these plants will look even better than they do now! Next time you visit the dark world I'll show them to you!”

Ralsei seemed exceptionally sure of himself in regards to taking care of the plants, so he quickly changed the subject to something he had wanted to say for quite some time.

“Do you think we could just... sit down for a minute? We've been walking all over the place and, while I don't mind it since I'm spending the time with you, we haven't had a chance to just sit and enjoy each other's company in peace.”

The monster's request seemed to come as a surprise to _Kris_ , as well as his captor.

“There's a park bench nearby,” the teen suggested. “Do you want to go there?”

“Oh that sounds lovely!” the monster smiled. “Lead the way! I'll be right behind you!”

True to his word, Ralsei followed close behind Kris as he led the prince south through town and took a right at the church. The pair passed by the small four-plot cemetery, which seemed to draw the monster's attention.

“This is a... cemetery, right?” the Darkner asked as he entered through the opening in the fence.

“Yup,” Kris replied as he followed behind his companion.

“I read about these in a book once. There used to be one in my kingdom, but it got kind of... lost.”

_How the hell do you lose an entire cemetery?! Kris_ shouted. Not surprisingly, his inquiry remained unheard.

“When I get back home I'll ask Seam if he remembers where it was.” He looked at the four tombstones and the accompanying item that sat at the foot of each one. “If he does remember where it is, do you think they'd be ok with me leaving a little cake like you did with those objects? That's kind of all I can really put there...”

Kris nodded his head yes, which seemed to perk Ralsei up.

“You're right!” the monster said. “I bet they've been alone for a long time, so any gift would be better than nothing!”

Just a few minutes after their somewhat one-sided discussion the pair made it to the bench that sat directly next to the cemetery. Ralsei quickly made himself at home and patted the spot next to him as an invitation for Kris to follow suit. The teen, unable to say no, silently joined the Darkner on the small bench.

Ralsei stretched and let out a long, relaxed sigh. “You're world's just so beautiful Kris. I know I've said that before, but...” he let out another quick sigh. “I just feel so strongly about it I can't help myself.” The monster craned his neck up towards the sky and closed his eyes as he basked in the lingering warmth of the autumn sun. _Kris_ couldn't help but notice the shadows never truly stopped obscuring his face, though they did lighten just enough to allow some of the monster's facial structures to become exposed.

With nothing to do and nothing left to say, the pair sat together for many minutes as the sun inched its way across the sky. _Kris_ checked to see if his captor was gone yet by attempting to move his hands.

No dice. They stayed frozen where they were. _Kris_ went to let out a sigh and-

His mouth opened.

 

_Kris_ may not have regained control of his body.

 

But!

 

He _could_ talk.

 

“Hey Ralsei...” _Kris_ would have to choose his words wisely and act quickly. He had no idea if the one in true control was distracted or just watching what was going on.

“...do you ever think that sometimes our choices aren't our own?”

His question seemed to draw the monster's attention. After a few seconds Ralsei let out a short laugh.

“What are you talking about? That's silly! Watch this.” He reached out and gently poked Kris's cheek. “Boop!” Ralsei chirped before withdrawing his hand and holding it up in a very matter-of-fact way. “You see? I chose to boop you on your cheek! Nobody told me to do it; I did it all of my own volition!”

It didn't quite seem that Ralsei was getting the point. Kris tried to word his question better.

“That's not what I meant. I mean, do you ever feel that, no matter what you try to do, your choices don't mean anything in the end?”

“Of course your choices make a difference! You could have been mean to the monsters back in our world, but you weren't, and they helped you in turn. You could have refused to help seal the pillar of energy, but you didn't and now the balance of light and dark has been reestablished.

“And, you know, you didn't have to spend the day with me today. You could have told me to leave and I would have without question. Ah, but you didn't!” Ralsei said with a big smile. “And I've had so much fun spending time with you and learning about this world!

“So, to answer your question, your choices do matter. And I think you're very good at making good choices Kris.

“...because you chose to be my very first friend.”

_Why does he always bring it back to me being his friend? Kris_ asked himself. He moved to open his mouth again, but found that it refused to obey his commands. _Well, I guess I should have seen that coming._ The teen had returned to being a captive audience within his own body.

After a few minutes Kris slid off of the bench, prompting Ralsei to follow.

“Um, Kris, if I said something wrong or that you didn't like I'm sorry. I would never say anything to hurt your feelings. Are we still friends?”

Kris paused for a couple seconds, then walked over to the monster and embraced him in a hug. Ralsei seemed to take it as a sign that they were still good friends and let out a sigh of relief.

“I'm so glad we're friends,” he said with a slight blush. “I really don't want to lose your friendship.”

With their break over Ralsei was ready to check out more of the town, though he did seem to be a little tired. _Kris_ wasn't surprised; they had spent a better portion of the day walking around. He wasn't sure what else there even was to do at this point.

But it seemed the individual in control of his body had one idea left. The teen led the way back towards the church and took another right at the crossroad, heading south through the tree-lined path.

Right before the path ended _Kris_ noticed another save point, as did his captor. He headed over to the glowing star and tried to interact with it, but got the same information screen as before with no save option.

“Kris? What are you looking at?” Ralsei asked curiously. The monster seemed to be completely oblivious of the save point as he craned his body around the teen in order to get a peek at what the teen found so interesting. “Is it another flower or something?”

Unable to save his progress for the second time today, Kris closed out of the information screen and resumed walking south until the pair was standing in front of the pair of red locked doors. The vines seemed undisturbed since the last time he had been here, which didn't seem to surprise _Kris_. Everybody just avoided this place; there was nothing here for them.

But _Kris_ 's captor seemed to believe otherwise.

“Can you open that door?” the teen asked Ralsei. As if on cue the monster walked forward and examined the slightly rusty locks.

“Um, maybe? I never learned how to use this magic, though...” He took one look at Kris and smiled. “I'll do my best to open them for you, though!”

Kris stood aside as the Darkner called forth his magic. The locks seemed to glow briefly, then quickly faded back to their normal state. Ralsei seemed to be straining himself the longer he used his magic, which forced him to call things off only about a minute after he started.

“I'm sorry, Kris,” the monster panted. “I'm... I don't know why but... those locks can't be opened.”

“Why?” the teen asked. They were just locks.

“It felt like...” Ralsei paused as he gently rubbed his hands. “...like my magic was just feeding into a black hole of some kind. Do you know who originally locked those doors?” He turned to Kris, who shook his head in response.

“Because I don't think those doors are meant to be opened,” the monster finished as he backed away towards the teen.

With nothing left for them there the pair walked north until they had nearly reached the librarby and hospital's intersection.

“Hey Kris...,” Ralsei said as he started to fall behind. The teen stopped and turned around to find the monster stopped many feet apart from him. Even with the shadows obscuring his face, _Kris_ could tell that the monster looked pretty beat. He wondered for a moment if the doors had caused him to look like that as he waited for his companion to catch up.

“I- I don't think I can stay here much longer,” the prince said with a weak smile. “When a Lightner is in our world they seem to become stronger, but, I guess it's not the same case here with Darkners, ha ha...”

“Where's the portal back to your world?” the teen asked once Ralsei had finished talking.

“It's close, don't worry. Just follow me.”

The pair continued left past the librarby, with Ralsei leading the way. Once the school was in sight _Kris_ could tell instantly that it had been used as the portal. A pair of dull, heavy-looking gray doors replaced the regular entrance, the same kind that had teleported him and Susie to the Dark World just recently. Once they were close enough the doors began to swing open slowly on their own, revealing a pitch-black interior with a single circular patch of illuminated floor a couple yards away from its threshold.

_Why is it_ _ **always**_ _the school? Kris_ asked himself. What was so special about this place in particular?

Ralsei began to walk forward, then seemed to remember something important. “Oh, Kris, I almost forgot!” He abruptly turned around and trotted up to the teen. “You left this back in our world when you left, and I meant to give it back to your earlier, but it completely slipped my mind until now, ha ha!” Using his scarf to hold the plant like a third hand, the monster searched through his cloak's pockets until he pulled out the Dice Brace.

“I know you gave it to me to wear, but I think you should take it. Consider it a gift. A sign of our friendship!” He smiled weakly as he waited for Kris to respond.

It seemed to _Kris_ that his captor picked up pretty quickly that Ralsei was expecting a gift in return, even though the teen hardly had anything of value on him.

_You'd better not give him my ball of junk! Kris_ threatened.

Needless to say, his threat fell on deaf ears.

Thankfully for him, the one in control grabbed the $10 left over from the $20 he had been given earlier and handed it to the monster. Kris was now back to the original $2 he had before starting his little adventure today, which seemed almost... fitting to him.

“Oh, this is your human money, is it not?” Ralsei asked as he held up the bill to the sky. “How about next time I come here I treat you with this money, sound good?” The only thing Kris could do was nod in agreement, which seemed to greatly please the monster.

_Ralsei makes out like a bandit and all I get is this bracelet? Kris_ sighed as his hands twirled the Dice Bracer around before shoving it into his pants pocket to keep the ball of junk company.

“Thanks again, Kris,” Ralsei said with the best smile he could muster through his exhaustion. “I had a lot of fun today, and I hope next time you can visit me and everyone else in our world.” If not for the limitations of his body in the Lightner's world, he would have loved to stay longer – maybe even have a sleepover if it was possible. But the prince was on borrowed time as it was, so he silently headed into the patch of light that would close the doors and transport him back to his lonely home.

“Bye Kris!” the monster said with a wave as the doors began to close. Kris slowly and silently waved his hand in return until he heard the loud, sturdy _Doom!_ that signified the end of their adventure together.

With nothing left to do for the day Kris returned home to his mom, who had just started making dinner.

“Oh, there you are dear!” Toriel said as the teen entered the kitchen. “I was just about to call you and ask if your friend would like to join us for dinner. Where is he?” she asked once she realized Ralsei was nowhere to be seen.

“He had to go back,” Kris replied.

“Oh dear, that's a shame. He seemed like such a nice monster. Next time you should see if he'd like to have dinner with us.”

Kris nodded in response to his mother's suggestion before heading up to his room.

“Are you going to take a quick nap? Dinner will be ready soon.” Toriel seemed perplexed that a teenage boy would prefer sleep over a plate of delicious food.

“...Tired,” was all the teen could muster up enough energy to say.

“Alright, but don't take too long of a nap,” his mom conceded. “If you do your food's going to get cold.”

“...'k.”

Kris' bedroom was almost completely dark when he entered. Only a few trace rays of the setting sun were able to make their way through the curtained windows. Everything, even the save point, was right where the teen had left it. _Kris_ watched on impassively as his body walked over to his bed, then paused. He couldn't tell what was going through his captor's mind, but it seemed to be something big considering the teen's body did not move for over five agonizing minutes.

_**Oh c'mon!**_ _If you're not gonna do anything then give me my control back!_ he screamed into the void.

To the teen's surprise, his body seemed to respond to his anger, or maybe it was just coincidental timing. Almost instantly it completely ragdolled, with his upper torso landing on the bed while his legs collapsed onto the floor.

_Wait what the f- Kris_ said as he watched helplessly while the borders of his vision began to blur and fade. _What the hell is going on?!_

He tried to move.

Nothing happened.

He called out to his mom. To Asriel. To his dad. To Ralsei.

But nobody came.

He tried to cry, to scream, to do _SOMETHING_.

But in the end all he could do was watch

 

Helplessly as

 

Everything

 

Went

 

Dark.

 

 

 

 

 

The teen awoke that morning to the sounds of birds singing and the bright morning rays. _Kris_ grumbled as his body refused to stay in bed any longer.

“Uugghgghhh...” was all he could muster out as he lazily swung his legs over the edge of the bed. _Kris_ paused for a moment as his brain finally woke up and started processing information.

“Wait a second...”

His body was... his. Again.

_He_ was in control.

_Kris_ looked through his bangs over to the birdcage. His soul sat at the bottom of it, unmoving. A wicked grin spread across his face.

Oh, if he _EVER_ found out who decided to take his body for a joyride and dick him over...

As he got up and inched closer to his soul, _Kris_ realized that the silver save point had disappeared.

_Hmm, weird_ , he thought to himself. _Kinda would have liked that thing to stick around at least..._

Disgusted with his soul – or, more accurately, the individual who commandeered his soul to take over his body – the teen begrudgingly made his way out of the room and downstairs to his mom, who should have been waiting for him. It was Sunday, which meant church service.

But instead Toriel was sitting in her chair reading a book while a freshly-made cup of tea sat cooling right next to the TV.

“Oh, you're finally awake,” she said in a chipper tone. “Would you like anything for breakfast?”

“...what day is it?” _Kris_ asked, suddenly extremely confused.

“It's Saturday silly,” Toriel replied. “Did you stay up too late again? You know that's not healthy for you.”

_But, yesterday was... how??_

_Kris_ was confused, to say the very least. His brain tried to process the information as best it could. Eventually the only conclusion it could come up with was that whomever had taken over his body had reset the entire day back to zero once they had finished what they wanted to do.

The longer _Kris_ thought about it, the more realistic his conclusion seemed to become. Ralsei was nowhere in sight, nor had Toriel made any mention of a visitor. It was clearly the weekend, but nobody was in a hurry to get ready for church, so the only logical conclusion was that it was Saturday.

And, if that was the case, why could he remember the day's events, even though they technically hadn't – or _wouldn't_ , at this rate – even happened?

Too confused and upset to think clearly, _Kris_ excused himself and rushed to the bathroom. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh as he slid down the back of the closed and locked door once inside.

This was... a lot at once, and he hated having to sort through such nasty messes. With shaking hands, the teen reached into his pocket and searched around for the one item capable of helping him calm his nerves. His good ol' Ball of Junk.

_Oh thank god it's still there_ , the teen thought as his hand clasped onto the item. A small wave of relief washed through his body as _Kris_ pulled out the ball...

 

...which abruptly stopped once he noticed that a certain bracelet had become intertwined with the other pieces of junk.

 


End file.
